


Monsters

by Palefire73



Series: Loki Origins [20]
Category: Frigga - Fandom, Heimdallr - Fandom, Loki - Fandom, Marvel
Genre: Comfort, Gen, Heimdallr is nice to Loki, Monsters, Nightmares, young loki
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-03
Updated: 2016-04-05
Packaged: 2018-05-31 00:59:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6449113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Palefire73/pseuds/Palefire73
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Loki has been told that there are nasty monsters in the Nine and that they will be coming to eat him because they know the All-Father is away at training camp with Thor.</p><p>Frigga decides it is time for her three year old to finally be taken to visit another realm.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Nightmares

**Author's Note:**

> This one is a three-parter because the original idea decided to suddenly balloon into a story much too long to match the other "Origins" Stories. It is of a similar vein; that is, a young Loki goes through one of those experiences that are a part of what happens as a child is growing up.
> 
> I hope you like it :D
> 
> Credit to Guillermo Del Toro for the lines I have adapted from "Crimson Peak" for Heimdallr to say :D

“Loki? Loki dear, it is time to wake up.” Frigga stroked the cheek of the little boy who was fast asleep and snoring tiny snores. His arms and legs were flung out in all directions and his hair was an unruly mop of brown spread about his pillow. She spoke again and gently shook his shoulder.

“Loki my son, will you wake?” Her gentle hand returned to his face and he twitched, starting to come out of his deep sleep. As she stroked his soft brown hair, coaxing it into some semblance of neatness, he curled up and turned onto his side to face her, nestling his cheek in her hand and fixing his half-opened and beautiful blue eyes on her with a sleepy smile.

“Good morning, Móðir.” Came his young voice.

“Good afternoon, Loki!” She replied laughing softly.

“Afternoon?” The little boy looked surprised and started to sit up. Frigga picked him up and sat him in her lap, where she smoothed a few errant hairs back into place.

“Yes my son, afternoon!” Frigga hugged her little boy towards her for a cuddle, “I thought it best to allow you to sleep after the night you have had. How do you fare today? Do you feel well rested?”

“Yes…” Said Loki hesitantly. Upon his mother mentioning the previous night, memories had surfaced and he clung to her. “They cannot get me…?”

“No, Loki. They cannot get you.” She stroked his head and she felt him sigh – hopefully with relief.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

It had been a week since Thor had gone off to training camp and last night had been a bit of a shock to say the least, because Loki had seemed to be having no problem sleeping alone for the first time. Yet last night his sleep – and that of Fulla’s, who was on night duty – had been disturbed several times by his awful nightmares. Fulla had dealt with it admirably, but the poor woman had been incredibly tired as she had related the night’s events to Frigga, and she had advised that Loki be allowed to rest for as long as he needed. The Queen had sent the nanny off for her own well-earned rest and had decided to allow the Prince to sleep until lunchtime so that his night-time routine would not be disrupted.

 

She had arrived in the nursery bright and early, having planned to take her son horse-riding. He had bonded well with his pony a while ago and having got over the initial trepidation of riding alone, was now really enjoying his lessons. He was learning how to look after it properly too – all the cleaning, feeding and general care that was necessary – and seemed to be a natural. But that activity had now been cancelled for today. One of the grooms had been asked to attend to the Prince’s pony while the little boy caught up on his sleep. Frigga now had something else in mind which had been inspired by the poor boy’s disrupted night. It was something to assuage the fears which had caused the nightmares in the first place.

 

Some bright spark had told Loki that all the other realms were full of monsters and that they could tell when the King of Asgard was absent. The young Prince had come back from playtime between his lessons in floods of tears over having been informed that it would not be long before these monsters started to sneak into Asgard to try to catch and to eat all the little boys and girls. Apparently, Princes were the tastiest and they were the ones who the monsters would look for first. Frigga was furious and had tried to tell him it was not true, but obviously she had not managed to convince him and he had consequently suffered with his bad dreams.

 

So, today she was going to take him to another realm and treat him to a proper visit where he could have time to experience some of what it had to offer – including the absence of Prince-eating monsters. Before they went, however, she had something lined up to try to show him that he had very little to fear from other realms in terms of monsters wanting to come to eat him.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

“Loki, we are going out on a trip today.” She said and the three year old broke into an excited grin.

“A trip?”

“Yes… just you and me. Somewhere you have not been before and it is quite far away. The people there do not speak our language, but I will give you a pendant to wear which will allow you to understand them. It will be good practise anyway, as it is one of the languages you will be expected to learn. Now…” She lifted the young prince off her lap and patted his shoulder, “… go to the bathroom. Visit the toilet, have a wash, brush your teeth and have a go at getting dressed – your clothes are in there.”

“Yes, Móðir!” Said Loki happily and hurried into the large luxurious en-suite. Frigga smiled after him. Only three years of age, he was already wanting to do more and to see more – his confidence was growing by the day and banishing the ideas behind his nightmares was an important part of keeping it that way. The truth was that some realms did have truly terrifying monsters, but the first part of the trip would show Loki just how safe Asgard was from any imagined invasions.

 

Loki appeared in the doorway of the bathroom and she went over to appraise his efforts. His hands and face were nice and clean, his breath smelled of peppermint and he had managed to put on his clothes fairly well, only needing help with his belt. She stood back and nodded.

“You look like a true Prince of Asgard, Loki. Very well done! Let us have some breakfast – well, lunch – and then we shall be on our way.”

“Where are we going?” Asked Loki.

“Ahhh… it is a surprise.” Replied Frigga.

“Oh I love surprises!” Said Loki and he slipped his little hand into hers as they went to the Great Hall to take some lunch before departing.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

“Why are we here?” Asked Loki as he looked out of the carriage window to see the rainbow bridge leading to the Bi Frost Observatory. He had not been here very often and was completely unaware that this was the means by which he had been brought to Asgard as an infant.

“You will see.” Smiled Frigga. As the carriage stopped she held out her hand, “Come along! Come to see where we are going!”

 

Loki’s level of excitement sky-rocketed as they walked into the huge observatory and approached Heimdallr the Guardian, who stood looking out on the Nine.

 

“Good day, Heimdallr.” Said Frigga and he turned around.

“Good day, Your Majesty and… good day to you, my Prince!” The Golden-eyed God smiled and gestured back to the view of the Nine. “How may I help you today?”

“Two things, Heimdallr,” Said Frigga. She brought Loki closer to the huge Guardian and looked down at how the young Prince was staring up in awe at him. “Loki has been given cause to be worried about the potential invasion of Asgard by flesh-eating monsters while the All-Father is away training. Could you possibly place his fears to rest?”

 

Heimdallr smiled and came to sit on the steps of the platform. He patted the step beside him and Loki joined him, still looking at him through huge blue eyes in wonder. The Guardian took hold of his formidable golden helmet and looked questioningly at Frigga who nodded her assent, and he removed it, placing it at their feet. Upon seeing that Heimdallr was quite ordinary underneath the huge golden ornamented helmet, Loki relaxed somewhat and smiled.

 

“Monsters?” Asked Heimdallr.

Loki nodded, fear coming back in to his eyes, “Yes! And they eat children! Princes first! And… and…”

“They’ve always fascinated me. You see, where I come from, monsters are not to be taken lightly.” Heimdallr’s calm voice and friendly look began to push Loki’s anxiety away, “Your Highness… may I call you Loki?”

 

The little boy nodded.

 

“Loki… there are indeed monsters in the Nine. Many, many of them. However… I can see them all.”

Loki gasped in three year old astonishment. “All of them?!”

Heimdallr smiled warmly and nodded, “All of them. I can see what they look like, and some of them are incredibly scary. I can see where they are and some of them are closer than you might think. I can see everything about them…”

“Are they coming?!” Blurted Loki, “Are they coming to get me?”

Heimdallr patted the young Prince’s knee.

“No, Loki. They are not. Would you like to know why?”

“Y… yes.” Replied Loki, sounding anything but sure that he wanted to know.

“Because, my Prince, Asgard is the mightiest realm of them all and her borders are the safest and most secure in the whole of the Nine! The All-Father’s reputation is so fierce and so strong that none would dare to come here to do any harm. And even if they tried…” Heimdallr smiled reassuringly at his Queen’s son, “I would see them and I would report it, whereupon the forces of Asgard would vanquish them. Besides, there are so few ways onto Asgard other than through the Bi Frost that no one knows how to get here without my direct permission anyway!” He stood up and extended his large hand to Loki, “Would you like to see?”

 

Loki rose to his feet and was led up to the platform, where Heimdallr picked him up and allowed him to sit on the pedestal which was used to activate the giant mechanism of the Bi Frost. He pointed out the enormous circular portal through which could be seen the vast array of constellations of stars.

“I can see… everywhere.” Said Heimdallr.

“By the Norns…” Whispered Loki in awe. He turned to Heimdallr, “Can I… can I see?” He asked, his wide blue eyes showing his hope. The Guardian thought for a moment then nodded, glancing over to Frigga, “There is a slight possibility… my Queen?”

 

Frigga, who had experienced what Heimdallr had in mind nodded graciously. “Find somewhere beautiful for my son to see.” She said and Loki began to jiggle with excitement. “I can see?” his small voice piped up, “I can see the Nine like you?”

Heimdallr chuckled. “Sit still, little Prince and I will find a good view for you.”

 

Loki looked round at his mother with a huge excited smile and then back to Heimdallr, who was looking out at the Nine. He was now bursting with anticipation and trying really hard to sit still, but his legs were swinging all the same and when Heimdallr moved behind the pedestal to lift him to sit in a better position, he giggled happily.

 

“Now, Loki. I am going to show you some monsters to prove to you that they are not interested in coming to Asgard in the slightest.”

 

Loki was still not sure about this, “What if they see me looking? They might see me and then they might come to get me!”

“They would possibly do that if they had the Sight…” Loki gasped and his blue eyes widened in fear, “… but they do not, Loki. I would never expose my Prince to such a thing.” After a few moments, Heimdallr felt Loki relax in his hands and he smiled. The little boy sat up straight on the Bi Frost activation pedestal, lifted his chin and nodded.

 

“I would like to see.” He said and Heimdallr looked over to Frigga who smiled and nodded to him; she was both relieved and excited at the thought of what her son was about to experience.

 

“Very well, my young Prince. You must try to sit still and lean back on to me…” Heimdallr stood right behind the pedestal upon which Loki sat and the little boy leaned back onto his broad armoured chest, “… and I will place my fingers on your temples.” He brushed Loki’s brown hair back over his ears and then gently pressed his fingertips to each side of Loki’s face.

“Are you well, Loki?” He asked.

“Yes… will I see now?” There was an element of impatience in the little boy’s voice.

“In a moment. I need you to look out of the Observatory Portal and relax a little bit more. Open your mind and try not to fight my thoughts as you have been learning in class. You need to allow me to find you so that you can see as I do.

 

Loki nodded and looked out at the stars. As he focussed on first one bright point of light and then another, he began to feel something enter his mind. A warm feeling, starting at his temples where Heimdallr’s fingertips rested, began to flow into his head and his first instinct was to try to block it.

 

“Is that you, Heimdallr?” He asked anxiously; he had already had quite a few lessons for training in defence of his thoughts under the guidance of his mother and the temptation to try to close his mind down was great.

“Yes my Prince.” He heard the Guardian’s voice through his ears, but there was a small echo of it within his mind too. “Now, rather than holding up a shield, search for me.” Heimdallr’s presence in his mind was a warm golden glow and Loki quickly found it and focussed on it. He felt a connection snap into place and suddenly the Guardian’s voice was speaking to him inside his head rather than vocally.

 

“Are you ready? You may experience some dizziness and even feel sick…”

“Yes! Yes I am!” Loki spoke both in his mind and through his mouth and Heimdallr chuckled.

“Very well, Loki. This… is how I see the Nine…”

 

Loki’s view from the Bi Frost portal disappeared momentarily as Heimdallr began to feed his own vision into the little boy’s mind, and he blinked as he wondered what was happening. But then it all reappeared; only now it was different. Whereas before he had seen a few points of light and faint clouds of luminous gases, now he could see everything. A faint network of translucent white branches had appeared, set against the inky black of empty space and now those points of light and shining nebulae were magnified in their brilliance and number, and each of them had a place in the gigantic structure.

 

The three year old Loki saw Yggdrasil in all her magnificence, holding within her embrace all the realms and other suns, moons and stars. Illuminated gloriously against the velvet black backdrop of the universe, she was spectacular. The little boy gasped in awe as he began to look around through Heimdallr’s sight, which the Guardian was now channelling straight to him. He could hardly sit still and, as soon as he looked at one thing, another would suddenly grab his attention and then another and another! His young face lit up with wonder at what he saw before him – at what Odin, his father, was custodian of. The King of Asgard was ultimately responsible for, was indeed in charge of – ruled – everything Loki could see. The Monarch of Asgard was High King of the fantastic universe set out before him. His child’s mind was overloaded with a sense of the magnitude of the sight before him and his budding imagination had him wondering what it might be like to command the great tree and all who lived under her care.

 

“Amazing, is it not, my Prince?”

 

Heimdallr’s voice cut through Loki’s reverie and he then remembered why he was here. Ambitious dreams fluttered away as a pang of worry turned his stomach when Heimdallr’s fingers turned his head in a particular direction.

 

“Now, Loki. Are you ready to look upon this realm?” The soft deep voice of Heimdallr did little to reassure the young Prince, but he sat straight and summoned all his courage.

 

“Yes Heimdallr. I am ready.”


	2. Visions

Frigga watched Loki’s mouth open wide and heard his young voice call out in exhilaration and she knew Heimdallr had just focussed in on the realm they had agreed to show the young Prince. He would be watching as the world rushed towards him, growing larger and larger and then as the clouds parted to allow them to see down onto its surface, flying over mountains and forests and oceans as the Guardian took him on a tour of the beautiful landscape. She had experienced this on a few occasions and it had never ceased to amaze her, so for her son it would be absolutely wonderful.

 

Heimdallr was not going to show Loki any “monsters” of course; it would be too much for the three year old to suddenly experience the sight of creatures such as Trolls, Dragons and Horned Bilgesnipe, for example. No, today he was going to be shown some top predators of the realm of Midgard. They would be scary enough for Loki to see, but they were also incredibly sedate creatures when compared to those of other realms. The real monsters would be saved for lessons he would attend when he was older; there was no need to fuel his nightmares – the aim here was to stop them.

 

“What is that?!” Exclaimed Loki and Frigga continued to watch as her son experienced this realm first hand for the very first time. Midgard. Her favourite of all the realms and the place she would be taking the young Prince once he had been treated to this visual spectacle.

 

“That, my Prince, is a desert. It is a place devoid of water and very little can survive there, although there are very hardy species that manage it.”

“And that! Oh, what is that?!”

“A camel, Loki.”

“Is that a monster? Will that eat me?”

“No, Loki. It is vegetarian and will not eat you.”

“What about that?” Loki was pointing with his hand at these sights that were in his mind’s eye and Frigga grinned. The experience of Heimdallr’s vision was amazing; one truly felt that one was right there in amongst the things that could be seen. She watched on as the patient Guardian explained all that Loki was asking about and was glad in a way that her son had been given cause to be frightened of the realms of the Nine, as this is not something she would have ordinarily brought him to experience.

 

“Now, my Prince. Are you ready to see your first monster?”

The young Prince sucked in a small breath of trepidation, but then nodded firmly. “Yes. I am.” His small voice sounded unsure and Frigga knew he was summoning all his courage to do this. She was incredibly proud of him.

“Very well. This one lives on the land, but it is a strong swimmer. It has been known to kill fully grown men, but it is usually when the man has done something to upset it. Here we are…”

 

In Loki’s mind, he was now walking along a river in a mountainous region, with snow covered peaks giving way to sloping lowlands covered in pine trees and then to the area surrounding the river, which was flowing along in a fast, foaming torrent, tumbling down over natural weirs and then winding leisurely about flatter areas. As they approached a part of the river where it was cascading in a white curtain over jutting rocks, he could see some furred creatures milling about the bank and some of them were even standing in the fast flowing river near the rocks. What were they doing? As he looked on, two of the creatures came together in the same spot and suddenly they reared up!

 

They were gigantic! Standing on sturdy hind legs and lashing out at each other with viciously clawed paws, the animals opened their wickedly toothed mouths and growled and roared at each other. They clashed against each other, trying to bite and to claw, pushing and snarling, splashing in the water and sending plumes of agitated froth into the air. One of them suddenly yowled and Loki saw that the larger of the two had ripped a huge wound in the smaller animal's side with his black claws and blood began to pour from it, drenching the brown fur and staining the water crimson around them. Loki leaned back heavily into Heimdallr’s chest as he witnessed this display of power and violence and small scared noises began to come from his mouth.

 

“H… H… Heimdallr… what are they? What are they doing? Will they get me? Will they…”

“Fear not, my Prince. Do not forget that you are not actually there. We are on Asgard, watching at a great distance from the Bi Frost. These are bears. And they are fighting over the best place to obtain their food. Look, the injured one is retreating…”

 

The smaller bear had indeed decided he would not win and the larger bear chased him for a few metres before returning to his hard-won place in the river, whereupon he began to look into the foamy water. After a few moments Loki gasped as a large gleaming fish leaped out of the water… and right into the claws of the bear, which instantly tore it to shreds with its huge sharp teeth, sending guts spilling everywhere into the river.

 

“Ew!” Exclaimed Loki, but in his fascination, he watched on as the bear devoured the fish and then waited patiently to catch another, which it consumed with just as much enthusiasm. At no point did it look towards where Loki was watching from; it was only interested in one thing: its dinner. As were all the other bears standing at various points in the water. They were all there for food and none of them seemed to be interested in children watching them from other realms.

 

“Now for another, my Prince.” Said Heimdallr, and Loki felt a small measure of nausea as the vision receded quickly and they skimmed across the landscape, heading for what looked like colder and colder territory. Then they were flying out over a vast blue ocean at a thrilling speed and Loki laughed in exhilaration. In the distance, he noticed white spray erupting into the air and he pointed his little fingers, “What is that?!”

 

“That is evidence of our next monster, Loki. This one lives in the ocean and should be more than capable of swallowing a whole classroom of children if it so desired!”

“Wh… what?!”

“Watch now, Loki, and you will see.”

 

Loki looked down from a vantage point that was high in the air above where the spray had plumed into the air. He could see a giant dark shape circling around in the water; round and round it went and then it moved to the centre of the circle it had been describing. He watched, goggle eyed, as the shape became bigger and bigger and clearer and clearer and he shrank back instinctively as he realised it was none other than a gigantic gaping maw! The water began to boil and splash about and he realised there were small creatures there, thrashing around in the water in a frenzy and then he looked deeper into the water and the mouth was getting nearer and nearer! The shrimp-like animals knew it and they grew even more agitated in their efforts to escape and then…..

 

The hugest mouth Loki had ever seen suddenly erupted from the water and rose directly towards the place from where he appeared to watch. The edges of the mouth surrounded the countless frantically splashing creatures and still rose further from the water, taking them all in and the water surrounding them and still it rose, coming closer and closer and closer…. And then it closed around everything within it and leaned off to one side, exposing the animal to which it belonged. The gigantic mouth stretched back along a massive face, from which a tiny eye seemed to observe him and then the animal began a slow descent back into the water. There were huge slits along it just behind the mouth and water poured from them, gushing down the side of the face and then it was gone, sending up a giant spray of water upon its re-entry. Loki looked on in amazement as the massive dark shape glided under the water and then he heard sounds of splashing in another area. He turned just in time to see a similar spectacle some distance away as another of the giant beasts broke the surface of the ocean and consumed another batch of creatures before sinking back down below the surface.

 

These monsters would have no problem in eating a tasty little Prince!!!

 

“That, Loki, was a whale. You might look upon it as a monster, yet it is one of the most intelligent marine animals and one of the gentlest. Not a true monster at all, but terrifying in action, none-the-less.”

“It was amazing…” Breathed Loki.

 

Heimdallr faded the vision of Midgard and dropped his fingers from Loki’s temples, holding onto the youngster as he reoriented himself now that he was seeing the room in which he sat rather than the vision he had just been presented with. He spotted his mother, who now came over to stand next to him.

 

“Well, Loki. What do you think? Do you think either of those formidable creatures would ever try to come to Asgard to eat you up?”

Loki smiled and shook his head. “No, Móðir. I do not. They were very scary… but they fit into their own world, not ours.”

“Very well observed, my son. Do you feel better now?”

Loki nodded, “I believe so.” He twisted around and looked at Heimdallr, “Thank you for showing me. It was wonderful.”

“You are very welcome!” Said Heimdallr and he lifted the young Prince down off the pedestal. He took hold of Head, his giant broadsword, and positioned it above the activation slot, then looked at Frigga. “My Queen?”

 

“Thank you, Heimdallr.” Said Frigga and she took hold of Loki’s hand. “Come along my son. Time for our trip.”

“Our trip?” Asked Loki. “Was this not it?”

“Oh, no!” Laughed Frigga as she took him to stand in front of the portal, “That was just to show you that you are perfectly safe here on Asgard while Heimdallr keeps watch for us.” Frigga turned to look at the Guardian and nodded. “Heimdallr, when you are ready…”

 

Loki’s head whipped round to look back at the pedestal as he heard the sound of Head being inserted into the mechanism and then he looked all around in wonder as the golden sphere around them began to spin, the giant engines whirring loudly. He looked back to his mother with his blue eyes wide in wonder and full of questions.

“Ready?” The beautiful Queen asked, and tightened her hold on his hand. Loki looked out at the portal and saw as the rainbow bridge extended out in front of them. Out into space. Out to where he had only ever seen other people step and disappear in front of him, but where he had never yet followed.

“Loki?” His mother smiled reassuringly, “Are you ready for your greatest adventure yet?”

 

As scared as he’d ever been in his short life, Loki tightened his own grasp on his mother’s hand, “Yes, Móðir.” He said, and they stepped towards the portal together.


	3. Reassurances

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, Frigga takes Loki to another realm and he realises that the term "monster" is relative.

Bright streaks of rainbow light erupted around them as Loki felt himself being pulled into the column of the Bi Frost. Then he felt the sensation of travelling at enormous speed and his hand tightened around his mother’s in apprehension. Just as he felt he would continue to move at this incredible rate forever and never stop, they landed and the light receded. A noise similar to the peal of thunder sounded and he looked to the ground at their feet, which was patterned with runes of safe travel. A gentle squeeze of his hand prompted him to look up to his mother and she smiled down at him, “Are you well, Loki?”

“Yes Móðir. Are we there? Are we on Midgard?”

“Yes, my darling. Now, let me put this on you. It will allow you to understand their language. The place we are in is home to people who speak a language called ‘English’. There are over six thousand languages on this realm, but only a handful of them are spoken widely. You will learn this one very easily, as it is very similar in structure to ours, but for now the pendant will help you.” Frigga placed a leather thong around Loki’s neck, from which a small stone was suspended.

“Can you still understand me, Loki?” She asked and he nodded, wondering why she had asked. “Good, because I am speaking English now! Just one more thing to do…” Loki felt a tingling all over his body and as he looked around, everything around them became subtly larger and their clothing changed into foreign-looking garb. “I have reduced our stature magically for while we are here.” Explained Frigga, “We are much larger than Midgardians and we would be very obviously alien to them if I did not disguise our true nature. We do not want to frighten them!” She took his hand and they set off walking.

 _Frighten them?_ Wondered Loki; only hours ago he had been afraid that this realm – amongst others – was the source of child-eating monsters!

 

They were on a dirt track which, as they walked, grew wider and showed signs of both hoof marks and wheel tracks and after about quarter of an hour, a village appeared in the distance, nestled in a dip in the countryside and surrounded by trees and fields. Loki was staring around at the landscape as they walked down the track. Things were very similar to back home on Asgard where they went pony riding on the foothills of the Mountain, but there was no sign of anything like the huge buildings that made up the city of Asgard. Indeed, the small dwellings he could see in the distance were more like the outlying tiny hamlets in the farming lands of his home realm.

 

They eventually reached the outskirts of the small village and he was surprised at the sudden level of activity.

 

“It is market day.” Said Frigga, “This is one of the smaller villages near a city called York. I have brought you here because I think the city would be too much for your first visit and when it is market day there are a lot of treats for sale here. I have a little of the local coin and we can go to say hello to a couple of traders I know.”

 

And so Loki’s first ever afternoon on Midgard was spent walking amongst bustling stalls piled high with produce from local farms and market gardeners, watching an auction of prized farm animals, such as cows, pigs and geese **¹** , and being allowed to spend a few stycas **²** – the local coinage of the time – on something he saw for sale on a wood carver’s stall. There were musicians in the village square and there were street entertainers performing all manner of things, from juggling with sticks which were aflame through card tricks to an amazing game made up of three cups and a ball which had him entranced until Frigga finally dragged him away because he kept winning. By the time they had sampled some fresh crusty bread and tangy local goat’s cheese, drunk some fresh pressed apple juice, chattered happily to a few of the traders and experienced the noisy and busy market for a few hours, Loki was yawning widely and Frigga chuckled.

“Are you enjoying yourself, my son?”

“Oh yes! It is so different to home and I love it!” The little boy yawned again and Frigga grinned.

“Well, I do believe it is time for us to return to Asgard…”

“Oh, do we have to?” Loki’s tired voice still had a reasonable amount of opposition in it.

“Yes,” Laughed Frigga, “you are falling asleep!”

“Can we not stay here somewhere?” He asked, but his mother shook her head.

“Not tonight, my son. I have not made provision. But we may yet return for a longer trip…” This seemed to satisfy the young Prince and they said their goodbyes to a few of the people around them. The walk back out of the village was into a gathering dusk and the sounds of the countryside were clear and heart-warming. Once they had returned to the secluded spot where they had landed, Frigga looked up and within seconds the bright lights of the Bi Frost had surrounded them. Loki hardly had time to start to feel strange when they landed back in the Observatory.

 

The huge Guardian of Asgard removed Head from the Bi Frost mechanism and the giant engines powered down as the two Royals walked into the Observatory from the Portal.

 

“My Queen,” He greeted Frigga and then turned his attention to Loki, “My Prince. How was your visit to Midgard? Did you encounter any monsters there?”

Loki, whose mind had been completely diverted from the thought of any such thing for his entire trip to the mortal realm, pulled a puzzled face. “There were none there!” He spun round to his mother, “We did not see any monsters on Midgard!”

 

Frigga laughed, “Of course we saw no monsters, my son. They were probably there, but the truth is: they are likely more afraid of us than we of them. We may have appeared as mortals to the people of Midgard, but if monsters are clever enough to spot the Queen of Asgard and her son, we would appear as Gods to them; formidable warriors in our own right!”

 

The young Prince took some time to think upon his mother’s words and he looked back at Heimdallr, who was dressed in his full battle armour, including the impressive golden helmet and he realised she was right. No monsters would ever dare to come to Asgard; they would turn tail as soon as they spotted Heimdallr alone!

 

His young face broke into a grin as the nasty tale told to him the previous day was shown to be false in his mind.

 

Here on Asgard, even in the absence of his Father, he was perfectly safe.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 **¹**    These animals were typical of the domesticated animals of the time for this region. See: http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/76966/1/OC2013_QI_early_med.pdf

 **²** Styca: The coinage used in Northumbria circa 950AD. This coin started out as a silver coin called a sceat in the 7th century, but in Northumbria it was gradually debased until it was a bronze coin – the styca – by 900AD. The rest of England ceased the production of sceats in 765AD in favour of the first penny, which was the standard coin of England until the late 13th century.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked it. This, in my head, is the first of many trips to other realms for Loki with his mum, but of course because I am Midgardian, this will be their favourite destination. And, because I am from the Northern part of England and the Vikings happened to come here, it will always be their favourite part to visit ;)

**Author's Note:**

> A few times I have been asked if Frigga was the one responsible for Loki's penchant for a few off-realm things, such as the tea he drinks. I think I remember Priti asking if she would take him to visit Midgard, and undoubtedly other readers have either asked or wondered, so this tale is for you :D


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